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Good
Riddance said about punk, “I think that the bottom
line is being yourself is punk rock and not giving a
s--- what other people say” (Harris). Punk rock was a
crusade that began in the mid 70s with the emergence of
The Ramones and the New York club, CBGB, that would
change music forever. Even though it began in the mid
70s, influences of the soon-to-come revolt were seen in
the 60s with the Velvet Underground and the New York
Dolls. Punk was a movement ridiculed by society for its
insane fashion and individuality. Artists, critics, and
people labeled it as a no talented and soon to fade
genre. From the Velvet Underground’s questionable
lyrics, the New York Dolls’ clothing, Patti Smith’s
attitude, Television’s style, and the Ramones’
clothing and simplicity, punk would forever change
music.
Punk
rocks influences can be seen back in the mid 60s. Lou
Reed and the Velvet Underground have been labeled as one
of the forerunners for punk (Swearingen). Reed’s
lyrics were far different than anything anybody had
heard of before because he wrote about the horrors of
alienation and drugs in New York (Punk 77). In 1967, the
Velvet Underground released their first album, The
Velvet Underground And Nico, which contained a song
called “Heroin” (Swearingen). The song, an ode to a
killer narcotic and moral decay, had never been written
about in rock music before this song (Swearingen).
Reed’s lyrics were depictions about drug abuse and
sexuality that disturbed many critics (Swearingen). His
portrayal of drag queens was beautiful, insightful and
went against the Puritanical beliefs of white music of
that era (Swearingen). Reed’s subjects were completely
different from the pop chart’s sexuality, causing
future rock stars to wear clothing and perform songs
that were not considered normal (Swearingen). His career
was labeled with lyrics of questionable material and of
brutal content (Swearingen).
On the
Velvet Underground’s third album, Reed wrote “Candy
Says,” a narration of a drag queen named Candy Darling
(Swearingen). The song starts out with the listener
hearing, “Candy
says she's come to hate her body and everything it
requires in this world" (Swearingen). In the song,
Reed adopted her drag queen perception and portrayed her
sexual identity (Swearingen). His portrayal and
perception of Candy were totally different from the
heterosexual, macho, and male-dominated music of the 60s
(Swearingen). Reed’s revolutionary lyrics set
the stage for the glamour rock/punk band, The New York
Dolls (Swearingen).
The New York Dolls were on
the forefront of the glam era. They wore makeup and a
girlish wardrobe, while maintaining the character of
street thugs. They were the answer to New York’s glam
rock. Many
critics wondered about the New York Dolls dress and
pondered if they were homosexuals or transvestites.
Their transvestite image caused many record companies to
be hesitant to sign them or support them.
“Frankenstein” predicted the music industry’s
intolerance of them, "When those plans they don't
fit your style you get a feeling of your own
ordeal" (Make The Music Go Bang).
Their
provocative image kept America and mainstream radio away
from them. Many people viewed them as being homosexuals,
but the New York Dolls just knew a good gimmick. By
wearing feminine clothing, they supposedly accentuated
bad boy rock The New York Dolls became a symbol of rock
rebellion and migrated to the underground New York
scene. The Dolls rejuvenated the music of 60s girl
groups and the Rolling Stone swagger, causing them to
stand apart from most early 70s rock. Music of the early
70s was community-oriented, but the New York Dolls
helped maintain the child-like charm of dress-up (Make
The Music Go Bang).
Critics
wanted to simply label the Dolls as transvestites, but
the New York Dolls played an integral role in the
savage, guitar-based rock that was emerging from
mainstream rock. The Dolls only lasted from 1972 to
1975. Their music was completely different from their
era since they sounded like the Rolling Stones on a bad
day. They actively displayed their fashion by wearing it
on the streets. Their street element led to Malcolm
McLaren (Make The Music Go Bang).
McLaren
had been following the fashion of the early 70s. McLaren
opened the clothing store Let It Rock, which was
dedicated to the changing fashions of London teenagers.
McLaren gained an essential understanding in the power
of clothing to shock the unshockable (Chamberlin).
The
New York Dolls and McLaren met in New York in 1973 at a
boutique show. McLaren represented Let It Rock and
presented shocking clothing that laid the groundwork for
later punk fashion. A friendship was created between the
New York Dolls and McLaren because of McLaren’s love
and knowledge of fashion. McLaren noted the Dolls look
and its impact, especially the way their fashion shocked
people. By 1973, the New York Dolls career was coming to
an end due to alcoholism, drug abuse, and their
label’s lack of financial support. McLaren went back
to New York to try to unite the New York Dolls but no
miracle would happen (Swearingen).
To
keep the Dolls in the public eye, McLaren formed a plan
that would produce the shocking fashion and statements
of coming punk bands. McLaren adopted the slogan,
“What are the politics of boredom?” and dressed the
New York Dolls in red leather. The red leather and the
boredom slogan led many people to think that the New
York Dolls had gone too far this time by going from
being drag queens to communists. This caused one of
McLaren’s resurrection attempts to fail miserably. He
tried to reestablish their career with a tour of the
south but ended because of their break-up in 1974. The
guitarist, Johnny Thunder’s and drummer, Jerry
Nolan’s heroin addictions left the New York Dolls in
the middle of the tour because they could not fine
heroin in Florida (Swearingen).
Thunder
and Nolan are both dead now and their original drummer,
Billy Murcia, also died of drug addiction. Their drug
addictions caused more intolerance for punk in America.
The New York Dolls were parodies of their own
self-destruction. Because of their dedication to keep
individuality in rock, the New York Dolls were the link
between late 60s and mid 70s punk rock (Murray).
In
1974, Patti Smith was the first in the line of many
people and bands to play at New York’s club CBGB. For
that reason alone, she has been dubbed the “godmother
of punk.” Patti Smith’s influence on punk is not
just confined to CBGB because she was one of the
genre’s more prolific artists. She was a rock star in
her own terms for publishing her poetry and her
criticism of rock music. Patti Smith was one of the few
women to succeed in the music business while not being a
sex symbol (Make The Music Go Bang).
Patti
Smith released her first single independently in 1974.
Her friend, Robert
Mapplethorpe, contributed the money to his record label
Mer to press copies of “Piss Factory”. This
would cause the beginning of the Patti Smith Group.
“Piss Factory” describes her factory job during her
high school years. The record takes listeners on a tour
of Patti Smith’s past. The lyrics and verses are
filled with her rock’n’roll upbringing. “Piss
Factory” is significant to music because no artist
before had ever been so deep about rock music and the
influences it has (Make The Music Go Bang).
Patti
Smith’s first record, HORSES, was released in
1975 and broke new ground for rock music. HORSES was
produced by John Cale and forced rock music to be an art
form. Patti Smith’s music was more focused than the
Beatles and less self-absorbent than Jim Morrison’s
drunken verse (Make The Music Go Bang).
HORSES
first song started the standard for the punk attitude
and set the tone for CBGB by writing, "Jesus died
for somebody's sins But not mine" (Swearingen).
Those three lines would forever be the essence of punk
(Make The Music Go Bang). Patti Smith’s combination of
educated and disrespectful rebellion maintained the
youthful strut and literary appeal of New York punk
(Make The Music Go Bang). She performed a cover of Van
Morrison’s “Gloria” from a male perspective (Make
The Music Go Bang). Her performance of “Gloria” from
a male perspective caused people to go beyond their
thoughts about rock music (Make The Music Go Bang).
Women of her era in music were considered sex objects,
but Patti Smith changed this by letting women be
participants without compromising themselves (Make The
Music Go Bang).
Patti Smith was determined to resurrect rock with
“Piss Factory” (Make The Music Go Bang). Today, her
impact is still significant because any strong female
lyricist and/or performer is compared to Patti Smith
(Make The Music Go Bang). Smith’s aggressiveness
allowed women to think of themselves as participants and
not just observers (Make The Music Go Bang). Punk
expert, Legs McNeil, best summed up Smith's
accomplishments, "Patti Smith kicked a-- so hard
she knocked down the whole f****** wall. She was the
first woman in rock'n'roll that guys aspired to be like.
She was the first woman to get it down so good that it
didn't matter what planet she was from. Patti kicked
gender in the b**** and made great rock'n'roll by
following her own agenda, without falling into the role
of the victim. And in the process, Patti opened the
doors for every woman who looked up on the stage and
didn't imagine herself down on her knees b****** the
rock god, but becoming one" (Swearingen).
Tom
Verlaine and Richard Hell met when they attended a
reform school in the early 70s. They would then
eventually form Television. Television was the
quintessential music for self-obsessed poetry.
Television’s music gave form to early punks and
created the look for what would later be dubbed
“punk” (Swearingen).
The
constant rivalries between Tom Verlaine and Richard Hell
led to Hell leaving Television. He then formed Richard
Hell and The Voidoids. Hell
stated about the rivalry, "Tom and I kind of hated
each other from the beginning but there was some mutual
ground which we didn't share with anyone else." Tom
Verlaine was tricky and Richard Hell was rebellious and
those qualities are shown throughout their music. After
being arrested in Alabama for burning a field, they went
to New York to form a poetry-rock combination called The
Neon Boys. By 1973, after adding Billy Ficca on drums
and Richard Lloyd on the guitar, the band was renamed
Television (Swearingen).
Television
was significant to the New York punk identity even
though there live debut was ignored by the press.
Television eventually played for the New York bar/club
CBGB and was the first rock band to ever play at CBGB.
Verlaine and Hell met CBGB owner, Hilly Kristal outside
of his country and western bars. Television needed a
place to play and Kristal allowed them to play the
following Sunday and the punk connection with CBGB was
formed. When Kristal asked Verlaine if they played
country music, he said yes. If Verlaine had not used his
conniving attitude to play at CBGBs, it would have
stayed a country and western bar (Kristal).
Television
was the spark plug for its generation of punk rock.
Within a six-month period CBGB was the place to be in
lower Manhattan and Television had recorded its first
single on Terry Ork’s label. Ork’s business
maneuvers allowed more bands like Blondie and The
Ramones to play at CBGB. CBGB’s Sunday night concerts
became the place for bands to play because of
Television’s and Terry Ork’s involvement
(Swearingen).
During
1974, Television became overly cynical and dark. Critics
loved their wordiness or thought the group was too smart
for its own good. Verlaine wrote dark and intricate
songs, while Hell wrote basic rock. Richard Hell knew
rock music could change people and he wanted to see how
far he could push the music to meet his needs.
Television did not have a look like most bands of its
age because they dressed normally. Television’s image
gave punk rock two examples with Hell making street
toughness smarter and Verlaine with his poetic attitude.
In 1977, Richard Hell wore a ripped t-shirt with a
picture of Bugs Bunny in a leather jacket and with the
words, “Bugs Bunny has too much money.” Hell’s
fashion statement, combined with the Ramones hoodlum
image, created punk fashion (Swearingen).
Richard
Hell’s image led Verlaine to kick Hell out of
Television. The tensions began to increase with
Verlaine’s wanting to sign to a record label and
wanting Hell out of Television. Richard Hell’s image
was a distraction for Verlaine’s seriousness. Richard
Hell, then, formed the Voidoids and became a cult icon
(Swearingen).
Tom
Verlaine then went on to recreate Television by
recruiting Blondie’s Fred Smith for bass. Verlaine
wanted to establish the band but their image stuck out.
Television was, also, musically different since its
music was articulate. Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd
managed to be original guitarists whose sound was
unconfined to the stereotypical boundaries of punk.
Television was a band that could play its instruments. Television performed and recorded music that showed New York images.
Television could not have come from anywhere else but
New York (Swearingen).
After
Hell was out, Verlaine contributed an intellectual edge
with Television. Hell, then, went on to the
Heartbreakers and the Voidoids, but his image combined
with the Ramones typified punk’s teenage image.
Television never achieved international notoriety. After
releasing its second album in 1978, they soon split up.
In 1992, Television reunited for a mildly successful
self-titled album and a tour (Swearingen).
The
Ramones were the New York embodiment of punk rock. CBGB
owner, Hilly Kristal, chose the Ramones to tour England
making them the first American punk band seen by future
generations of English punks (Swearingen). The Ramones
transformed the rebellion of 50s rock into an attack on
the senses (Swearingen). Joey Ramone said about the
Ramones music, “We wrote about things that amused us,
things that disgusted us, giving our aggressions and
frustrations” (25 Years of Punk). The Ramones put punk
on the map (Swearingen). They rejuvenated rock by
appearing as if they never got out of high school
(Swearingen).
The
four men from Queens, dressed in leather jackets and
bearing the surname Ramone, were the Beatles of the punk
invasion. “Ramon” was Paul McCartney’s identity
when booking reservations. In 1974, four high school
hooligans and dropouts changed “Ramon” to
“Ramone” and used it as their last name. Their
ripped jeans, sneakers, and leather jackets represented
punk. Dressing in their daily clothes made glam rock old
and made the teenage element of rock popular again
(Swearingen).
The
Ramones were the Fab Four of punk. The Ramones
casualness and simplicity put punk into the minds of the
next generation of rock fans. Their music was simple,
three-chord rock that recollected rock’s innocence.
Their teenage subjects became rock symbolism. The
Ramones’ image of “anybody-can-do-this” inspired a
generation of rock fans and critics. In a way, their
simplicity was a problem for them because few people
took them seriously. Their music was so raw and so
tight, that few could copy its power (Swearingen).
The
Ramones got their first performance at CBGBs in 1974 and
became an element of the club by 1975 (Swearingen).
“We could blow this place apart if we wanted to” Dee
Dee Ramone speaking of CBGBs (25 Years of Punk). By
1976, they signed to Sire Records and prepared America
for punk rock (Swearingen). Their self-titled first
album never made it to the US top 100 but their impact
was leaking into the rock world (Swearingen).
The
Ramones were the perfect rock band because they wrote
and performed such simple tunes about nothing while
mastering rock’s basics (Swearingen). Their music was
filled with seemingly flawless fast rock music and
subjects (Swearingen). Their music sent rock back to the
basics (Swearingen). Danny Fields said of the Ramones
music, “It changed the world because it was so simple
and songs were so short. They shaved off all the fat”
(25 Years of Punk).
The
Ramones realized rock music was about doing what you
could as well as you could. Their simplistic image made
them seem barbaric and a parody of their own rawness.
The aggression they produced eventually became obsolete,
but they could not surpass the image they created. They
could not exceed their teenage image because they had
created it and could not get rid of it even if they grew
up (Swearingen).
Their
impact was so severe and reckless, that if they evolved
it would mean that they would soften up and offset
punk’s aggressiveness, which would mean they would
sell out (Swearingen). They were trapped with what had
made them punk and failed to grow up (Swearingen). Eric
Weisbard one said of the Ramones music, “First time
you hear the Ramones you think this is silly. Second
time you hear them you think this is awfully catchy. By
the fifteenth time you hear the same song you think I
could worship this” (25 Years of Punk).
Punk
was a musical crusade that obviously rebelled against
the traditional beliefs of rock music and clothing.
“And learning to be an individual was the best gift I
got from growing up punk. I am conscious of stereotypes
and try not to fit them,” Greg Graffin stated on punk
(Josh). The New York punk scene would eventually lead to
the British punk invasion.
Works
Cited
Chamberlin,
Byrn. “The Quintessential Punk.” 1995. 19 May 2001
<http://www.film.queensu.ca/critical/Chamberlin4.html>
Harris,
Scott. “Good Riddance.” The Punk Source. 19 May
2001.
<http://www.angelfire.com/punk2/punkskaemo/page30.html>
Josh.
“Music Quotes.” “Punkinterviews.com.” 19 May
2001.
<http://www.punkinterviews.com>
Kristal,
Hilly. “CBGB Omfug.” History Of CBGB. 19 May 2001.
<http://www.cgbg.com/history1.htm>
“Make The
Music Go Bang.” 19 May 2001.
<http://www.johnnymoped.free-online.co.uk/frontpage/webwelcomepage.html>
Murray, Jamer.
“Diary of PUNK.” 1998. 19 May 2001.
<http://www.netsalesuk.co.uk/music/punk.htm>
Palmer, R.R.
and Joel Colton. A History of The Modern World.
1995
“Punk
77.” Nasty! Nasty! 19 May 2001.
<http://www.punk77.co.uk/>
Sum 41.
“Fat Lip.” All Killer No Filler. CD. Island,
314548662-2, 2001.
Swearingen,
Jessamin. “We Created It; Lets Take It Over!” 1993.
19 May 2001.
<http://www.inch.com/~jessamin/>
25 Years
of Punk. VH1. 18 May 2001.
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